Millburn has just one senior in its lineup, so it is fair to say the team has much to look forward to next season and perhaps the following season, considering it starts five sophomores.

But Millburn is showing signs that its intention is to make 2012 special.

Right-hander Donald Misiak and left-hander James Mynott combined to contain the potent Warren Hills lineup, and the Millburn offense hammered out 12 hits on the way to an 8-6 victory that secured the Phil Krug Tournament championship yesterday in Millburn.

It was Millburn's second straight Krug championship and its sixth title in the 11-year history of the tournament named in honor of former coach Phil Krug. Krug died in 2001 at the age of 53.

Junior Ian Riddell's two-run single gave Millburn a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the team tacked on a run in the fifth on a sac fly by Milo Freeman. Millburn seemed to have taken full control in the sixth when Anthony DelGreco crushed a two-out, three-run home run to left field to boost the lead to 8-3.

"I'm seeing us mature as an offense," said Millburn coach Brian Champan. "Our guys are having much better quality at-bats."

Warren Hills, however, scrapped back in its final at-bat.

Mynott, who relieved Misiak at the start of the fifth, retired eight of the nine batters he faced and was one out away from completing a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Singles by Ron Legreide, Mark Apgar, and Mike Lascu loaded the bases and brought losing pitcher Kyle Allen to the plate.

Allen (3-1), who allowed eight runs, seven of them earned, on 12 hits, struck out one and walked three, rocked the first pitch from Mynott deep into the gap in left-center field for a three-run triple. That shaved the deficit to 8-6, but Mynott, suddenly facing the tying run, got a strikeout to end the game.

Warren Hills (6-4) had rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Moorestown, 3-2, in the first round of the Krug Tournament last Saturday.

Warren Hills coach Mike Quinto was upset after the game due to some uncustomary mistakes by his team.

"We made (three) errors and had some mental mistakes on pitch selections," Quinto said.

Millburn, meanwhile, received a very serviceable outing from two pitchers down the line in its deep rotation. Misiak permitted three runs, two earned, on six hits over four innings, struck out two, and walked one. He and Mynott combined to walk just two batters, wisely attacking the strike zone against an aggressive offensive team.

"As a team, we are starting to mesh," said Millburn junior center fielder Will Fitzgerald (2-for-3, run scored), an All-Essex County selection last year. "We are getting our lineup to the point that guys are getting into specific roles."

Fitzgerald appears more comfortable at the plate than earlier in the season.